Cabooses on CSX?

[Anonymous]

Approximately what time frame would be considered the 'last days' of cabooses on CSX, where cabooses were not used on every train, but still seen quite often? I'm modeling the present time, but considering pushing it back to the 80's in order to use cabooses if they were still used then. Of course, since it is MY layout, I may just use cabooses on the local short haul freights and branchline operations as a rolling office of sorts, and still model present day operations for the mainline traffic without cabooses.

[tjsmrinfo]

jsh not really sure when cabooses vanished from all trains in the us, i think it was the 80's.
cabooses used in transfer runs or long reverse moves have been gutted such as no radio and other equiptment. today local crews have hand held radios to tell the engineer whats going on behind them. just remember to spot the caboose on an unused track or hold the main in the clear of a switch about 50 feet or so.

hope this helps

tom

[csxengineer98]

cabooses ended on csx about the same time they ended on all the major class 1 carriers... sometime in 85...with the signing of the 85 contract that still hunts the new guy to this day...
csx engineer

[csxengineer98]

oh yea... since csx came about in 87.... the actual correct awnser is...never...since they where gone befor csx was formed...
also... when you see a caboose now..they arent cabooses..they are called shoving platforms..and are only used on a few local jobs where they have to shove the train for a distance to get to where they are to work at...
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

So a shoving platform is basically a caboose used as protection for the end of the train at grade crossings when it's being pushed to a location?

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jshrade

So a shoving platform is basically a caboose used as protection for the end of the train at grade crossings when it's being pushed to a location?

yep...prity much... the old cabs are all gutted out and if your lucky..you might find one with a useable seat or 2 still in them..but other then that...they are nothing more then a place to ride on when shoving a local to a location for switching...
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

Well I will DEFINITELY have a use for that on my layout! I've got quite a few places where locals would need to do runarounds just to be able to move from one part of the layout to the other with the loco's on the head end, but if I used cabooses as shoving platforms, that would let me run cabooses prototypically, without the hassle of putting the locos on the other end. Thanks for the tip!